All the rhetoric about trans and intersex athletes affects the way ciswomen in general but, in this situation, cis women athletes, are being discussed--and criticized. This is not new nor is it a revelation activists and scholars have been trying to make people aware of this for years. But it was on display at this year's US Open, when one of the vocal proponents of banning trans women in sports, made comments about a cis woman playing like a man.
I missed Chris Evert's on-air comments about Karolina Muchova because I have made a concerted effort to watch the women's matches on ESPN3 where Mary Carillo has been doing actual good commentary. When I have had to listen to Evert (yes, I know mute is an option), it is just painful. In general, I don't see what her appeal is. The majority of her comments are guesses at what the players are thinking. But her comments this year (and likely in the past--there is some rich discourse analysis to be done I suspect) have been especially grating in regard to women players.
Evert started the whole men have bigger, better faster everything comments on the air during Muchova's match against Naomi Osaka and then continued them on X after the match. This truly horrible article reports on the situation. I link to the truly horrible article because it does when I imagine a lot of people do when it comes to Chris Evert--cite her behavior as an anomaly and deem her not sexist because she has been a (self-proclaimed) proponent of women's sports.*
"The truth is that we know Evert did not mean anything sexist toward Muchova."
I don't think that is clear at all--or even remotely true--that Evert was not engaging in sexism.
Evert said on X that Muchoka wants to "play like a guy" and then got called out by Ons Jabeur (who sadly is not able to play the US Open this year) and Nick Kyrgios, which is a low bar when you are offending the man accused of domestic abuse (an issue that deserves a post--or a dissertation--of its own). Muchoka simply disagreed with Evert's assessment and Evert apologized in a subsequent post.
So while that moment might be put at rest, i.e. no one is talking about it anymore, the comments and others that Evert has made on air (I don't follow her on social media) makes it clear that she has a very specific opinion on how women should be behaving and that that vision is quite narrow.
Evert may not be in the inner circle of the anti-trans advocacy like her pal Martina Navratilova, but she has made her position clear and it reflects her belief that there are very distinct differences between all men and all women. Her belief that Muchova wants to play like a man (a criticism leveled against gay player Amelie Mauresmo and Black players like Serena and Venus Williams) is a means of policing gender boundaries, which is exactly what the save women's sports are doing. Because Muchova wants to hit the ball harder and move faster (which I imagine most tennis players desire regardless of gender) she is exhibiting masculinity, according to Evert.
Earlier comments in the week about Elena Svitolina also point to her belief in women's inherent inferiority. During a Svitolina match, Evert went on and one about how lucky Svitolina is to basically have two coaches because her husband, fellow player Gael Monfils, can give her advice and hit with her. Evert cites all of his experience on the tour as such a valuable asset. To be clear, Monfils is a good player. His ranking is also currently lower than his wife's. He is a little bit older but they both have been playing since childhood. In other words, I don't think he adding soooo much to her game or that they don't learn from each other. But Evert does kind of acknowledge what Svitolina brings: a calming influence [to the fiery Black man]. It was all so stereotypical.
The women's semifinal with Jessica Pegula and Muchova is about to start. I am curious to see what Evert has to say. But not sure if I am so curious that it is worth staying up late for on a school night. ;)
* this is the moment I always like to point out that Evert did not join forces with Billie Jean King as one of first group of a dozenish women to break away and start their own tour because she didn't want to lose the sponsorship money she was getting as America's straight, white sweetheart.
